In 1890 Debussy started work on one of his most famous pieces ‘Clair de lune’ and in 2015, I chose to have it as my processional music when Mr O and tied the matrimonial knot.

This dreamy, beautiful piece of music has long been a favourite of mine and I’ve used it on and off for years as one of the relaxation tracks at the end of my Yoga class. It’s the piece that people always ask me the name of. It makes them smile. It makes them cry. It’s just a little pop of magic.

When I was carrying Little Miss I would sit cross-legged on my yoga mat while Debussy played, and Little Miss would respond by sticking out an arm or a leg (usually into my ribs, of course) and I would hug my gorgeous baby-bump to me and bask in my happy little pregnant bubble.

So when it came to selecting a piece for my big (well forty feet, give or take) walk down the aisle it really was a no-brainier.

Now it’s fair to say that the whole ‘wedding’ affair wasn’t really a biggie for me or Mr O. As far as the ‘big white’ stuff goes I’d been there, done that, got the whole (ridiculously expensive) t-shirt ten years before. I was keen to ‘keep it simple’. Mr O was relieved.

In all honesty we felt like we’d already made the biggest commitment of all when we took the decision to try for a baby. For us, getting hitched was a nice, but quite practical, formality. We wanted to tidy things up. To dot the i’s and cross the t’s. I wanted to be a ‘Mrs’ and have the same surname as my partner and my child.

So we planned a very small and simple wedding. Our local registry office, fifty of our closest family and friends and drinks and nibbles at the local pub.

I was happy of course, but fairy nonchalant nonetheless. Until the moment they swung open the doors to the ceremony room.

Debussy started to play and Little Miss, our flower girl, started to walk down the aisle ahead of me towards her Daddy who was wearing the biggest smile I have possibly ever seen (and a suit. To be clear, not just a smile.)

Out of nowhere this huge and completely unexpected wave of emotion just totally floored me. Tears started to roll down my cheeks and threatened to turn me from blushing bride to Alice Cooper. As I watched our beautiful girl toddle down that aisle, wearing her slightly too-big dress, clutching her slightly crumpled bouquet, I quite literally felt as if my heart might burst with happiness.

And then I got it. This wasn’t about a nice but practical formality. This was about us. This was about our precious little family.

Sometimes, don’t you just wish you could press pause? Freeze a moment? Bottle an emotion?

As we celebrated our first anniversary this week and I played Clair de Lune for Little Miss (unimpressed to be honest, apparently she prefers ‘Ice Ice Baby’) I realised that, thanks so much to Mr Debussy and his magical ‘Moonlight’, I have been able to do precisely that.

11 thoughts on “The magic of ‘Clair de lune’”

Growing up I was a bit of a princess (still am) and enjoyed every single shred of attention I got from my mummy (still do). So when it came to sisterly love… It was more of a case of… Oh, it’s you again.

Then when I grew up and was forced to live with with my big (little) sis I guess u could say we joined forces and made our own little castle together.

One of my favourite songs of all time and the song that instantly put a smile on my face at the memories of our castle adventures, is ‘Sunshine’ by Gabrielle. Because Mrs O… Sunshine through my window, that’s what you are xxx

Beautiful! I have tears in my eyes right now. Happy Anniversary. There are so many moments I wish I could pause and replay over and over and music is always a great way of taking you back. The song we chose to have playing while we signed the register always takes me back.
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It is a beautiful piece of music. Happy anniversary to you both. I think it’s easy to forget how special getting married is and what it really means to you until you are walking up that aisle.
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What a gorgeous piece of music to walk up the aisle to! Happy anniversary! I’m a singer, and I walked up the aisle to a Strauss song that I sing a lot – very dramatic and beautiful! I had a friend sing it which made it even more special. I loved seeing my husband at the end of the aisle – it’s one of the most special moments of my life! Thanks so much for joining us again at #SharingtheBlogLove

Happy Anniversary. What a lovely choice of music. I will never forget the walk up the aisle and seeing my husband looking back at me with the biggest smile. A moment that makes me smile when I think about it. Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove x